Dogfish Head is known for their experimental brews, the owner of the brewery even has a show about traveling the world looking for cool ingredients to put in beer, but I’ve only had a few of them so when I saw this bottle I figured I’d dig a bit deeper. They’re out of Delaware and are easily one of the biggest names on the east coast for micro brews, the 60 minute IPA is a popular favorite.
The other thing that drew me to this bottle was that it’s brewed with Black Chai Tea. I was introduced to Chai Tea from my good friend Dean in Australia, it’s perfect because like beer you can add subtle ingredients to brew a complex tea . It’s 9% alcohol so it packs a decent punch but you can hardly taste it due to the powerful ingredients in the beer. Here is the explanation they provide on the bottle “Our Sahtea is based on the traditional 9th-century Finnish recipe for Sahti in that we brew it with rye and juniper and heat the wort with wood-fired rocks. We break with tradition by adding an exotic Black Chai Tea at the end of the boil.”
The color was hazy golden with a medium head, and the aroma was very reminiscent of chai tea with a smokey and cinnamon undertones (think Christmas). First sips of the beer tasted a bit like cola before it got a chance to open up. For this reason I suggest drinking it over a span of at least 20 minutes – don’t worry, the 750 ml bottle forces you to space it out. Once it leveled out the cinnamon flavor really came out, I would rate it a 10/10 on a scale of spiciness. This was followed by a tea like rooty aftertaste and at the end I tasted hints of orange which I assumed were the juniper berries. This beer should definitely be sipped and drank slowly almost like a tea and it’s good to share with someone else. Since I drank it over the course of 20-30 minutes the temperature dropped considerably but it was all part of the experience and the quality didn’t drop off.
I would buy this again in a heartbeat, definitely one of the more enjoyable beers I’ve had in my lifetime and I’d give it a 9.5/10. I drank it in the summer but – in a winter setting that would go up to a 10/10 without a doubt, perfect Christmas beer.
Love the review. I think you should start working on that book.